STEM Concepts

Canyons School District

Instructional Supports Department

TEXT COMPLEXITY Quantitative Measures

A popular method used to measure a student reader’s ability is Lexile level or a Lexile Measure. A Lexile measure is a valuable tool for teachers, parents, and students. It serves two unique functions: it is the measure of how diffcult a text is OR a student’s reading ability level.

Teachers can determine the Lexile of any text at lexile.com. First, a free account must be created, next paste text, and a Lexile score will be determined.

The Reading Inventory (RI) is given to students in Grades 4-12 and SALTA students Grades 1-5, as a screener 3 times per year (Fall, Winter, Spring). This exam calculates a student reader’s ability to read. The Lexile text level for each CSD student can be found on the CSD Data Dashboard. Knowing the reading ability of each student will help determine what types of scaffolds are needed.

When planning a close read, grade level text should be used, even if students are below grade level. The purpose of close reading is to scaffold the text enough for all students to be able to access the text.

The table below displays grade band Lexile levels. Students who fall in the Basic or Below Basic categories will require signifcant scaffolds to access grade level text.

Grade

Below Basic

Basic

Profcient

Advanced

1

BR

BR - 99

100 - 400

401 - 1700+

2

BR - 99

100 - 449

450 - 620

621 - 1700+

3

BR - 299

300 - 609

610 - 790

791 - 1700+

4

BR - 499

500 - 769

770 - 885

886 - 1700+

5

BR - 599

600-864

865 - 980

981 - 1700+

6

BR - 699

700 - 954

955 - 1020

1021 - 1700+

7

BR - 749

750 - 995

996 - 1060

1061 - 1700+

8

BR - 799

800 - 1038

1039 - 1155

1156 - 1700+

9

BR - 849

850 - 1079

1080 - 1210

1211 - 1700+

10

BR - 849

850 - 1186

1187 - 1305

1306 - 1700+

11

BR - 899

900 - 1214

1215 - 1310

1311 - 1700+

12

BR - 899

900 - 1284

1285 - 1355

1356 - 1700+